DIY: Filing Cabinet Transformation

We have been needing a filing cabinet to keep paper and receipts and things but oh man they are not exactly cute.  

While perusing my Redbook subscription I came across a redo of a filing cabinet using paint and a stencil.  I was in love. 

This is such an easy project and so customizable.  It's not exactly quick...it's been sitting on our porch for a few weeks but the end result is worth it.  

What you need:

- Filing cabinet needing some love (my mom found ours at a yard sale, but I've seen cheap ones at goodwill and Craigslist) 

- metal primer (I got a spray primer from walmart) 

- sandpaper 

- paint (I bought a mistint quart at walmart on clearance) 

- craft paint (michaels) 

- brushes 

- stencil (michaels)

- painters tape 

- sealant 

Alright so first off you wanna give your filing cabinet a good wipe down.  I just used a Clorox wipe and a rag.  

Mine was super rough looking and had rust in some spots so take that sandpaper and smooth everything out.  Use some elbow grease and sand off the rust because you don't want that hanging around.  

(Sorry I don't have a before pic...blogger fail) 

After you've got it sanded to your liking you can prime it wih your chosen primer.  

Once your primer has dried get out your paint and cover your cabinet.  I took off the handles and plates because I was going to reprint them a different color.  Oh and pull the drawers out slightly or they will be painted and stuck and really hard to get back out...trust me.  

Here's my mistint paint (sorry it's a disaster) but I'm obsessed with clearance paint...seriously I didn't even know this was a thing! 

Alright once your paint has dried it's time to get creative.  Take your stencil ( I got mine for around $3 at micheals with a coupon) and tape it into your cabinet wherever you want with the painters tape. Mine didn't always stick so well so good luck.  Take some paint and my super professional technique was to sponge/dab it on until everything was covered.  I also didn't wait for the paint to dry before removing the stencil I just peeled it off very carefully.  

I used the craftsmart multi surface in parchment 

Here is the stencil I used, got it at Michaels with a coupon :)

Make sure you wash it between uses so you don't get paint spots.  

I had some mistakes on some parts so what I did was go back in with the gray paint and a tiny paintbrush to fix it the best I could.  Then I sprayed it with this sealant.